It is easy to assume that organic and paid social media are one and the same. Although they can be combined to bring great benefits to your business, you should treat them as separate channels that can help achieve different business goals.

It is important to fully understand the pros and cons for each social media marketing strategy in order to get the best out of it.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people around the globe are now using social media. This has led to an increase in reachability. There are now 4.2 billion social media users around the world.

The UK’s paid social media spending is expected to rise from 6.73 Billion US Dollars to 12 Billion in 2025. Despite Apple’s iOS 14.5 update, which severely restricted the targeting options for Instagram iOS users and Facebook, spending is rising.

Social media strategies have changed over the years. Social media strategies were originally about creating an online presence and engaging with customers. It is now used throughout the customer journey, from customer acquisition to retention and remarketing.

You could be missing huge opportunities to reach new audiences, drive traffic and sales if you don’t use social networking in your Miami digital marketing strategy. Social media has become more than just a way to create conversation and content. It’s also a channel for advertising that supports business goals and growth.

What is Organic Social Media?

All organic social media content is free content that social media users share in their feeds.

This is a great way to get the attention of potential customers, without the need to purchase the space. You can share posts and blogs, or help others, through organic social media. This allows you to connect with potential and current customers.

When you post organically on your page as a business, the following groups can see it:

• A percentage of your followers (organic reach).
• Followers of your followers (if they share it).
• Anyone who follows the hashtags that you use

Businesses use social media organically to:

• Create a brand voice and personality

• Share interesting, informative and inspiring content to build customer relationships

• Engage customers at all stages of the buying process

• Customer service support

The benefits of organic social media

These are the key benefits of organic social media:

More cost-effective

Posting organically on social media is free. Organic social media has no costs other than the effort required to create content and engage your target audience.

Assist customers and engage with them

Social media can be a great way to interact with customers and offer customer service. Customers will be able to leave comments, complaints, or reviews on your profile and get answers. Your organic social media efforts will be more successful if you dedicate time and resources to responding to customers.

Create a brand personality

Social media can help you build character and show your customers that your brand is relatable. This adds an extra layer to your marketing strategy. It allows you to build the attributes you want prospects and customers to associate with your brand.

Cons of Organic Social Media

There are pros and cons to organic social media. Make sure you choose the right strategy to fit your business.

Time Consuming

It can be time-consuming to create content and respond to customers on a regular basis. You will need to have the resources or time to dedicate to this task. If you don’t have an agency or a team to assist you, this can become a major drain on your time.

Change Algorithms

Algorithms determine what content you see on social media channels. They sort posts based on relevancy and how useful it is to users. Your campaigns’ success will hinge on your ability to get the right posts in front of the right people at the right moment.

We need to be more flexible in order to reach immediate goals.

Your followers are the only ones who can extend your organic content’s reach. It will only reach the people who share it with them and your immediate audience. It is important to make sure the right people follow you, and that their friends have similar interests. Paid social media can’t be used to distribute content to certain demographics or types.

The Best Practices to Post Organically

Organic posting is a little different than paid ads on social media. Here are some best practices to ensure your posts are engaging.

• Minimize promotional efforts. leave messages for paid ads. You should share content that is informative and interesting to your followers when you post organically.

• Share your brand’s personality with social media. This is a way to show off your brand and values. Show the people behind your business, as well as your passions and values.

• Strengthen your brand. What do you want people to know about your culture and brand? You should create content that reflects your brand and culture. Also, ensure it is consistent across all social media platforms.

What is Paid Social Media Media?

Paid social is when you pay to increase your content and adverts on social media channels in order to reach a larger audience. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter can all pay you to share your content with targeted audiences that are most likely to be interested.

Advertisements can be purchased in a variety of formats, including video, images, and carousel posts. You can target your ideal audience through social media channels by selecting from a variety of demographics, places and interests. 

Social media is becoming more popular than ever. People are more comfortable shopping online through e-commerce and social media stores. Ads are now a more natural part of social media, especially when they are well thought out and designed to look natural.

Many businesses use social media paid to:

• Increase brand awareness and attract new customers
• Promote a new product, new content, or an event
• Generate leads
• Convert

The pros and cons of paid social media

Paying for social media is a great way to get the following benefits:

Connect with new audiences

Paid social is a way to cut through the noise and reach people you wouldn’t otherwise be able to. To ensure that you don’t waste money on people unlikely to engage with your brand, you can target your ideal audience by their location, demographics and interests.

Paid social can be used to increase the reach of your offer to your ideal audience.

A Receptive Audience

Social media is used by many people to shop for inspiration. Your message might appeal to a larger audience and increase conversion rates.

Targeted advertisements can be placed on social media accounts of targeted audiences by allowing you to sort them by location, gender, and interests.

Cost-effective

Social media platforms use a pay per click (PPC) model. This means that you only pay when someone interacts with your content. The goal of your ad is what determines the engagement, such as conversions, likes, or building brand awareness.

Many platforms let you set a spending limit on paid social media efforts. This will ensure that you don’t go over your budget or get surprised by unexpected costs. Targeting certain audiences is more expensive than others. If your brand can afford it, you may be able to target a smaller audience at a lower price.

Retargeting

It is possible that you already have a large following on social media and wish to keep your customers happy. Retargeting customers with ads can be a great way to remind them about your brand and promote the latest news or offers.

The Cons of Paid Social Media

Paying for social media is not a good idea.

You may not see a good return on investment

No matter how much money you spend on social media, if your campaigns aren’t optimized for targeting or you don’t monitor them properly, your ads might be ineffective and don’t convert. You will burn through your budget if you keep trying new things and failing to get the right results with ads.

Competitive Landscape

You might be in a highly competitive market and find that paid social media is expensive. To get the results you want, you will need to create high-quality and attention-grabbing content.

It takes time to analyze and measure campaigns

You will need to analyze, adjust, and monitor your paid social media ads to achieve the best results. Analytics are available on most platforms so that you can track how your ads perform in real time. This information can be used to improve your messaging and target on an ongoing basis in order to achieve the best results.

The Best Practices for Paid Social Campaigns

These are the top practices to follow when using paid social media for the highest return on your investment.

• Target the right audience Using the right messaging and targeting will ensure that you get the highest return on your investment.

• Give users a clear call-to-action – Tell them what you want them to do next. Encourage them to purchase now if you want to increase sales. Encourage them to look at specific content if you want to drive sales.

• Your ads will appear in users’ news feeds. They might not even know you. This audience is not looking for content from your brand, so keep it brief and engaging. It will increase their chances of remembering you the next time they see your ads.

• Test campaigns-test different messaging and imagery to improve your campaign’s results.

Are Paid and Organic Social Media the Right Choice for Your Business?

A paid or organic social media strategy may not be the best for every business. You will need to consider what your goals are and how much you are willing to spend on each option.

Paid social media may provide immediate results, but organic social media can deliver great results over time with little investment of your time.

Consider what social media can do for your business.

It can help you achieve a variety of goals. Both organic and paid social media are available to help you.

• Get sales leads and new customers
• Increase brand awareness
• Increase traffic to your site

These are some examples of goals and best strategies to use:

• Reach large audiences quickly with paid social media

• Organic social media allows you to engage with your audience over a prolonged period of time.

• By sharing valuable content on social media, you can build relationships with customers and prospects.

• Reach new people with paid social media

• Support customers through organic social media